Raising (and Cooking for) a Protein Intolerant Child

Category Archives: cinnamon

If you’ve spent any time reading through this site, you may have seen that I have a recipe for pancakes that I got from the cookbook, Cookies for Everyone. It is great if you or your little one is sensitive to corn and eggs, or you are still working your way through an elimination diet. They really are delicious pancakes, but they are a lot of work because you have to do a lot of flour mixing and make your own superfine sugar (because I still can’t find a store that sells it!).

In the last couple of years I started using the Hodgson Mill’s Gluten Free pancake mix. There are a lot of GF pancake mixes out there, but so many of them either have soy or are ridiculously expensive (like $7 a box — outrageous!). I discovered the Hodgson Mill brand at my local Walmart for $3.60ish a box. It is well worth the extra money I pay to save time and not have to mix my flours.

This is what always seems to happen with HM pancakes. I just add more milk.

One thing I’ve noticed with it though, is that the measurements on the liquid are off. I always end up using more milk than is called for because the batter is way too thick if I don’t.

I usually use eggs in mine, now that I know my boys can tolerate eggs; however, I made this particular batch for those of you who are intolerant/allergic to eggs. My tip for those of you who are just going gluten free, or who don’t like the taste of GF pancakes — use lots of cinnamon. It really helps mask the flavor of the different flours, and it helps control blood sugar — extra bonus.

Side note: I have a love affair with cinnamon. Behind salt and pepper, it is my favorite spice. I am kinda mad at gum companies since many of them stopped making sugar-free cinnamon gum. I feel like you can never have enough cinnamon!

1½ cups allergy-friendly milk (I now use almond milk, but rice milk works well too)

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp guar gum (optional – this helps GF recipes rise more like wheat flour; I use it in all my GF baking because I have a huge tub of this stuff).

1 egg or use egg replacement (see above)

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Liz Z gettin’ in on the mixin’ action.

Manimal and Z scream in delight over their pancakes.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Blend the wet and dry ingredients together (but don’t over mix). If the batter is too thick, add more liquid until it is the consistency that you want. Cook on medium-high skillet. Flip pancakes over when bubbles form on the top. When the pancakes are golden brown, they are done. Enjoy!

The other day I posted pics of Z’s face, which showed red splotches around his mouth and nose where cinnamon had stuck to his skin. I also did some searching on the Internet, and found that cinnamon and extracts of cinnamon are often irritating to the skin.

Well, my husband and I created a paste of cinnamon and rubbed a small area on our wrists to see if we, too would have a reaction. Sure enough, we both had red marks on our skin where the cinnamon had been (mine was itchy, also). I am not sure that cinnamon bothers him, and I am taking a “wait and see approach.”

So here is another confusing and frustrating symptom. This morning I fed Little Z cream of rice with cinnamon and sugar. I have been holding off on adding cinnamon to his food lately because a few weeks ago I gave him cinnamon and sugar rice for breakfast, and he became very fussy and had the usual distended stomach/diarrhea. Without thinking about it this morning, I added it to his cereal and he seemed to enjoy it; however, by the time he was done eating it, his face was bright red where the gooey cereal had stuck to his skin.

So now the question is: is he allergic to cinnamon, or is it made in a facility that works with a food that bothers him? There is nothing disclosed on the packaging, but as my celiac sister-in-law pointed out: you don’t have to say if you process something on the same line as say rye (which has gluten, and because it is not one of the “top 8” doesn’t have to be disclosed).